BRIGHT OUTLOOK

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 140, 13 June 1918, Page 8

BRIGHT OUTLOOK

HONEY INDUSTRY

BEEKEEPERS' CONFERENCE.

The fifth annual conference of the National Beekeepers' Association of New Zealand was opened at Edmanson's Hall, LahibtOn-qTiay, to-day. There was a .large..attendance,,"including, a... number of ladies. Mr. W. E. Barker (president) occupied the chair.' ; ■ -.•

MINISTER'S ADDRESS.

• The Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald, Minister of Agriculture^ _aaid it gave him very • great pleasure to see such a large gathering of persons engaged in the apiary industry. It showed conclusively that the •'industry wasr ■going 1 ahead •by leaps and bounds; he did not think there could be ' pany" doubt aDouf't'hat.' ThbW'who were engaged;inithe. .honey industry .were moving in the direction of greater co-operation j. and organisation, and that being so their |' movement .could"hot fail to be successful. It was of paramount importance to this country and the- Empire that the primary- and other industries should ,aim at, and get as near to, perfection as possible. There could be no question that -in- the^ present trying time through \vjjich''She Emriire'was passing, the producing industries, next to the heroic efforts of Jur soldiers, were of supreme importance.' <. If we could not provide food for out spldiers, our men could not fight. He would like to impress upon every section of the community that it was-of the -utmost importance that our country, as well as other parts of the Empire, should produce foodstuffs and other necessaries to their maximum capacity. He was pleased to see so many ladies present. The honey industry-was one in which ladies were taking,, a .great,, deal of interest. It was, gratifying to him to acknowledge the excellent work being done by women in the dairy as well as in the honey industry.' Bee-keeping was an industry particularly suitable to women. The prospects of the honey industry 'never looked brighter in this country;than.it the present time. Bee-keepers had now an offer from a certain firm at a remunerative figure for all the honey that could, be produced for export.- That; arrangement would remain .'in .force, -the period of the war and for some considerable time after, so that those engaged in the industry now knew where they stood. They knew the.price .was right, and the only thing that was necessary was to produce honey of the right quality. As he had said,.. Ihe future of the industry never looked,, brighter.. •, "* t,he* Mayor,' Mr! J. P.' Luke, M.P., C.M.0., on behalf of the city, extended a hearty welcome to the members of the conference.

Mr. T. W. Kirk, Director of the Horticultural Branch of the Department of Agriculture, acknowledged the valuable w6rk done by the forty-four honorary inspectors throughout the Dominion. They had, he said, rendered valuable assistance, to the .official apiary instructors, arid jn_jdoing;s<p'had:done much for the industry generally. Mr. F. S. .Pope, Secretary of Agriculture, in the "course of some interesting remarks on the progress of the honey industry, alluded to the assistance rendered by the Government and Department to the industry, and added that New Zealand had now the best apiary legislation in"ths world. He spoke in terms Of high appreciation of the imiprovement that had been made in the quality of the honey' marketed to-day compared with its quality some years ago. Mr. J. A. Young, M.P. for Waikatp, in the course of a vigorous address, in which ha emphasised the importance of ;the. producing, industries, made particular reference to the increasing value of the honey output. He was strongly of opinion that,jt was only by co-operation that beekeepers could do best for themselves and a for the industry generally.

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.

The President, Mr. W. E Barker, after acknowledging the valuable war services rendered to the association by the secre-tary-(Mr. F. C. Baines) and the editor of .the Beekeepers' Journal (Mr. Brickell) said the suggostioft had been mad« that it would be a good thing to hold the annual conference in different centres from time ;to time. That would be a. question for the coivference to consider. The past year, he added, had been a very "rosey" one for beekeepers, that was for those who were fortunate to have good 1 crops. Those beekeepers who had been loyal to the Bristol and Dominions Company had reaped a rich reward. A question that the conference might very well take ■ into consideration, was how best they could protect the interests of the small'producer. He quoted evidence to show that in some cases storekeepers were allowed'Hofix' theprice of honey by buying from the small producer at a minimum price. The- National Beekeepefi^ Assbciatibn-^hould, in" conjunction with the Honey Producers' Society, fix the price of the article, and it was only ..by. organisation, that they could achieve the object they desired. The producer should fix the price of his produce. He advocated compulsory registration of beekeepers.

(Proceeding.)